PNW Road Trip Day 10: Olympic Peninsula: Hurricane Ridge, Sol Duc and Marymere Falls

Day ten was another one of those leisurely days that we actually did not have to get up at the crack of dawn. We took some advantage of this knowing that tomorrow would be a very early morning. We had three things on the itinerary for the day; drive to Hurricane Ridge in the morning, and then do two hikes in the afternoon, one to Sol Duc Falls and the other to Marymere Falls.  Before we left Lake Crescent, we did a nice morning walk down by the lake and then piled into the car and headed east to Hurricane Ridge. Hurricane Ridge is about 17 miles south of Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. It is known for it's beautiful views from the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center at the very top. After finding the right road, we started to head up into the mountains. After going for a few miles, we turned a corner and stopped at an overlook to take photos of Mount Baker off in the distance. After we finished taking those photos, we turned around and saw this amazing road (pictured below) in front of us. I think this was one of my favorite images from the whole trip.

A dandelion that caught my eye. Make a wish and blow!

Mount Baker from Hurricane Ridge Road.

Blue mountains near Hurricane Ridge.

Once we got to the top, it was quite windy and cold and there was still quite a bit of snow. We putzed around in the visitor center and took a few photos and then decided to start heading down.

As we were thinking about getting back in the car to head down, an unsuspecting guy next to us had left his camera bag unattended while he went to get something out of his car....the next thing we knew, a raven flew down and started to pull stuff out of the pockets. The guy saw what was going on and came running. I don't think the raven got away with much, but it sure was a comical and entertaining scene! Photo credit for the raven photo below goes to Mark Stevens. By the way, if you click on any of these photos, you can see much larger versions.

After the raven flew off (although he was still observing things carefully from a distance), we headed down out of the mountains. The next thing we knew, the car in front of us had almost come to a complete stop on the side of the road. We were busy trying to figure out why...since there certainly wasn't much traffic...when we saw what they had stopped to look at. I could hardly believe my eyes. There, right on the side of the road, lumbering up the mountain slope was a young black bear...coming right at us...not in a bad way :). Anyway, as I struggled to put the zoom lens onto my camera, he just kept coming closer and closer. I was so thrilled by him, I almost cried :O. What a beautiful bear he/she was. This was one of my first shots as he was still a little ways off.

And then, there he was,  thinking about coming up over the ridge. I figure that mom bear must have been fairly close because he still looked pretty young to be completely on his own. What a wonderful and completely unexpected treat this was! I love the little tuft of fur sticking up on top of his head!

The lucky money shot!

After our close bear encounter, we drove back around Lake Crescent to go to Sol Duc, since it was in the opposite direction. We came upon this lovely view of Lake Crescent below.

Next up...the Sol Duc Falls hike. This was a really beautiful hike with lots of old growth forest and little streams and cascading brooks. Unfortunately, when we got to the falls, the sun was pretty bright, so not a good light to take photos of waterfalls, but I still took a few, and they still look pretty.

Sol Duc Falls

This was a cute little cabin that we ran across on the hike. I loved the look of cabin with all the big trees reaching to the sky behind it.

One of the little cascading brooks on the Sol Duc hike.

 After the Sol Duc hike, we were hungry. We had brought an ice chest with food with us, so we hung out in the parking area where there were picnic tables and enjoyed some lunch (fresh bread, cheese, turkey) while surrounded by the beauty of Sol Duc. After we ate, we headed back to Lake Crescent Lodge. Our next hike was within walking distance of the lodge. As we were walking out of the lodge area, we ran into this small field of purple wildflowers on the side of the road. So pretty!

Eventually, we came to the Marymere Falls trailhead. This was also a very pretty hike, but it was also a more crowded hike than most of the others we had been on this trip...probably because it was so close to the lodge and there are a few trails that branch off from here. Once we got on the main trail, the congestion cleared up somewhat. This hike took us through some beautiful forest, with some wooden bridges and finally to Marymere Falls.

Marymere Falls

After the Marymere hike, we headed back to the lodge to organize our stuff and get things ready for a very early start in the morning. We walked to the lodge restaurant later in the evening for dinner and then had a beer down by the lake at sunset. All in all, a really great day! I loved lake Crescent and hope to spend more time here someday. Here are a few parting photos of it before saying goodbye.

And, finally, one taken from my phone of me enjoying that beer before heading back to the room for the evening. Cheers!

Tomorrow will be a very busy day. We have to make our way from Lake Crescent to Orcas Island in the San Juans. We have two ferries to catch and several driving routes to cover before reaching our final destination. Goodnight.